Long ago, there were two mythic wars.
In the vast garden known as the world, gods and their followers clashed to elevate their own divinity.
That was the first war.
The first war ended without a clear victor.
One day, as if lightning had struck from a clear sky, a massive dimensional rift appeared in one place, and beings from another world poured out from it.
These otherworldly things invaded and eroded this world, eventually twisting it.
Beasts lacking intelligence went mad after being corrupted by the otherworldly energy, rampaging wildly, while the invaders showed hostility toward the native inhabitants.
Spreading explosively from the rift at the center, they disrupted the world's ecosystem on a massive scale.
This was because the beasts corrupted by the otherworldly energy grew far larger and more dangerous than the original creatures of this world.
They posed a grave threat to existing lifeforms, their fangs and claws even threatening the survival of the intelligent beings that ruled the land. Thus, they came to be called monsters.
Their advance spared neither plains nor mountains, rivers nor seas, skies nor earth, filling half the world before the gods finally realized they could no longer afford to fight among themselves.
Facing the common enemy from the other world, they united for a desperate war of survival.
That was the second war.
The war was long.
It was a colossal conflict that claimed countless intelligent beings—and even the transcendent gods themselves—without exception.
Many things vanished, and many more were forgotten.
But in the end, they emerged victorious, driving the otherworldly beings back through the rift from whence they came.
However, though they won the war, the gods were so depleted by its length that they lacked the power to seal the rift that had been left unattended.
Anyone could see that leaving the otherworldly rift open would lead to the same catastrophe again after a long time.
And so, the gods forged a massive cover from their own flesh and authority to seal the rift.
That is what dungeons are today.
Though blocked by the gods' flesh and authority, they remain fundamentally otherworldly, governed by laws alien to the outside world's common sense.
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"So don't step forward out of vanity and stay behind the warriors, eat your meals without skipping even one, make sure to chew thoroughly. You have my authority latent within you, so there shouldn't be any major issues, but still, don't put strange mushrooms or fruits in your mouth carelessly, don't let your guard down even when sleeping, it's a bit sly but try to take watch at the very front or very back if possible, you're a girl in your prime so always keep your belly warm in cold, damp places, move with someone else whenever possible, always reserve thirty percent of your strength as spare capacity, don't touch treasures or riches you encounter in the dungeon first if you can help it, restrain excessive curiosity, and until you return from this perilous place, your goddess won't for even a single moment—"
'… Goddess?'
Even asking in my mind brought no response; it was silent.
'She's finally gone quiet.'
She always got extra naggy before entering a dungeon.
I confirmed my connection with the goddess had severed and let out a light sigh.
And that meant we'd now properly entered the dungeon's domain.
One difference between the dungeon and the outside world.
Direct connections to the gods are cut off.
In truth, it didn't matter for most crawlers.
I didn't know about other places, but generally, no one has one-on-one direct chats with the god they serve.
Gods are great and lofty beings, after all.
The goddess had told me that for gods with massive faiths, they often couldn't even grasp how many believers they had, let alone their names.
Usually, only a tiny fraction of favored devotees ever receive a god's revelation.
"Gray Hound pack 1km ahead. They haven't spotted us yet. What do you want to do, Kai?"
"Hm."
Kaiden made a thoughtful face at Miella the scout's report.
"Gray Hounds don't yield much material for the effort. Dodging them sounds good, but…"
"Keh. It's been over a month since our last dungeon run. We need to sharpen our combat senses on the upper floors. Even if materials aren't the goal, a skirmish wouldn't hurt."
"Hm. Makes sense."
Kaiden nodded at Rask's words, then looked my way.
"Not just us—this run includes you too, Miss Arjen. Best to sync up a bit on the upper floors. Important for you to gauge our party's capabilities too."
"Hehe. Looking forward to it. Need a blessing?"
"No. Too wasteful on mana for Gray Hounds."
Decision made, the Kaiden Party moved swiftly.
Following Miella's guidance, they formed up and slowly entered the Gray Hounds' detection range. About ten of them came into view.
Among them, a few that had been sitting and resting perked up their ears sharply, then slowly rose and approached.
The closer they got, the more their massive builds stood out.
Even the smaller ones were the size of full-grown boars—giant dogs—and the larger ones were horse-sized.
Like letting military dogs loose to grow wild.
This was the second difference between dungeon and outside.
Monsters twisted by dungeon mana were on another level.
Gray Hounds existed outside dungeons too.
But outside ones were at best like wild stray dogs from my past life.
Dungeon Gray Hounds, though? More like calling them wolves with their size.
"Look at me—!"
The two groups eyeing each other kicked off combat with Kaiden's shout as the opener.
"Kyeng!"
"Kyaeng!"
But the fight was one-sided.
The bold-charging Gray Hounds let out pitiful whines in the blink of an eye.
Laira's arrow shot out at the start.
Unlike her slender elven frame, the draw strength of her bow was immense; the arrow sank into a Gray Hound's head without resistance.
She nocked and loosed rapidly, punching holes in three more heads before they closed in.
Even so, the rest reached melee range somehow.
Tung-!
Four charging Gray Hounds slammed into Kaiden, who had repositioned to match our formation and their path. Their momentum died or halted.
Kaiden deftly stabbed and withdrew his shortsword into the soft throat of one blocked by his shield.
While he handled those, other Gray Hounds bypassed the tank and slipped toward the rear.
"Keh."
A lizardman over 2 meters tall skewered them on his spear as they arrived.
Even as he recovered his spear from one, his swung fist against another rushing in crushed its skull with a crack and sent it flying.
The Gray Hounds' charge faltered as comrades dropped in seconds around them, momentum crumbling.
And in that moment of fear flickering in their eyes and hesitation—
Puk-!
Laira's arrow struck between one's eyes like a laser, dropping it limp like it'd been tased.
And the last member of Kaiden's party, Miella…
"…What?"
Standing beside me with arms crossed, looking up at me with a somehow embarrassed expression.
"Nothing."
"…Just so you know, this kind of fight isn't my field anyway."
I hadn't even said anything, but she offered an excuse preemptively.
"Of course."
Miella looked indignant, but I just smiled back.
"I mean it!"
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"Keh. Body's definitely stiff."
"Training never slacked, but live combat sense is another beast."
Kaiden and Rask casually shook blood from their weapons amid the fallen Gray Hound corpses, chatting.
"1st floor monsters won't sharpen us properly."
"Day or two around the 12th floor safety zone before mid-layers to tune up?"
"Keh. Depends on what this female's got."
Rask's slit pupils turned to me.
Lizardman expressions were hard to read, but I could sense a grinning vibe.
"Expectations are high."
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But over the next three days, I had no chance to step up.
Kaiden wanted to conserve my strength as much as possible.
'Blessings a few more times won't drain my mana.'
By common sense, spells and miracles like magic or blessings consumed heavy mana and couldn't be spammed endlessly.
But I didn't mention it.
No need to invite extra work, and by standard logic, Kaiden was right.
I was a temp party member. Getting them used to my standards could backfire later if a priest joined—setting expectations to my level wouldn't help them or the priest.
'Can't let bad habits form.'
The class hierarchy was strict; commoners shouldn't complain about or judge noble supporters.
That was proper. Nod.
'This run looks easy enough.'
Kaiden Party recruited me due to capability gaps, but they were a mid-layer active group with progress there.
The upper layers—especially early 1-5 floors—were barely a warm-up, even sans priest blessings.
Individuals were skilled, but maybe because the tank leader was rock-solid fundamentals.
The party's coordination was excellent.
Party leaders should always be tanks or healers.
Kaiden Party was every bit the mid-layer crawler outfit.
"…Why do you keep giving me that look?"
"No reason. Just impressed at pathfinding."
"'Pathfinding' what kind of backhanded compliment is that?!"
"None at all."
Except for the one getting her fur rubbed the wrong way.
Thief class meant fewer chances in big mobs or melees.
Coincidentally or not, monsters encountered so far grouped up.
Miella's roles boiled down to scouting and guiding.
But she excelled there.
In just three days, no ambushes, no clashes with other parties.
All thanks to her skills.
"Shaaah—"
Couldn't stop teasing when it hit so satisfyingly, though.
And enjoying needling Miella subtly.
"Hoo—"
"Made it."
We reached the 12th floor safety zone just as three days tipped toward four.